Method of continuously perforating a web and apparatus for the same

ABSTRACT

Cutter blades are moved downwardly in individual fashion at different times in repetitive sequence to perforate the web, while at the same time the blades are moving horizontally at a speed equal to that of the moving web with the blade projecting through the web driving the same. Thus, the individual blades both perforate the web and feed the same.

United States Patent Tsujimura et al.

METHOD OF CONTINUOUSLY PERFORATING A WEB AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME Kimiaki Tsldjjllllll'l: Tosio Moriya, both of Kanagawa, apan Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan April 9, 1970 Inventors:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Foreign Application Priority Data April 19, 1969 Japan ..44/30489 U.S. Cl ..83/37, 83/50, 83/284,

83/303, 83/318, 83/321 Int. Cl. ..B26f l/06 Field of Search ..83/37, 38, 39, 218, 284, 303,

[451 June 27, 1972 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,211,370 10/1965 Hergert ..234/50 3,189,270 6/1965 Seymour et al. ..234/1 15 Primary ExaminerJames M. Meister Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [5 7] ABSTRACT 3 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures METHOD OF CONTINUOUSLY PERFORATING A WEB AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for continuously perforating webs such as photographic films, magnetic recording tape and paper webs and the like, and an apparatus for performing the same.

2. Description of the Prior Art The conventional method for perforating webs, involves perforating blades which are reciprocated vertically with the perforated web being intermittently moved horizontally with the blades removed therefrom by a claw which engages the perforations formed in the same with the perforated web being set at a desired position by guide pins or the like passing through the perforations. The step sequence therefore is intermittently feeding the web horizontally and stopping the web prior to perforating the same. By repeating this sequence, the web is perforated along its edge forming a number of successive perforations. Due to the limitation of this sequence, it is difficult to perforate a web at high speed and, in addition, the web is sometimes damaged by the guide pins which, of necessity, must project the perforation of the web.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A plurality of perforating blades are moved in a direction parallel to the running direction of the web in reciprocating motion such that the blades move at the same speed as that of the running web and, further, the blades are moved in the same direction for a portion of their movement as that of the running web. With the web moving horizontally, the blades are then during parallel horizontal movement in the same direction, reciprocated vertically to perforate the web. As two blades or sets of blades are employed and, while one of the blades is moving in the same direction as that of the running web, the other blade or set of blades is moving in a reverse direction after being extracted from the web prior to again reversing the direction, bringing the. blade or blades again up to the speed of the moving web 'and projecting the blades through the web to perforate the same. Thus, the perforating blades serve not only as the perforating means but also the web feeding means. Therefore, in the present invention there is no need to provide a separate web feeding means.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for perforating the web continuously without stopping the web during perforation. It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for perforating the web without any necessity for separate web feeding means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 through 8 are schematic side views illustrating, in sequence, the operation of the perforating blades in accordance with the method and apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of the loop of movement of the perforating blades illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 8 in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a film perforated by the perforating apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the reference characters A and B denote respectively, the perforating blades which act sequentially to perforate the web when the blades are moved form right to left in the drawing. The sequence of operation may be seen by reference to FIGS. 1 through 8. In FIG. 1, the situation is shown where the blade B in projecting through the web 1 is feeding the web from right to left as indicated by the arrow above the blade B, that is, after the blade B has perforated the web to form perforation B,. At this moment, the retracted blade A has returned to its initial right hand position by moving from left to right, and started to return to the left as indicated by the curved arrow immediately above the blade A. FIG. 2 illustrates the situation immediately thereafter, wherein the blade A which is then moving from right to left at the same speed as the moving web 1 which moves to the left by being pulled in that direction by the projected or inserted blade B is now projected through the web creating a second perforation A Thus, in FIG. 2, the web is driven from right to left by both projected or inserted blades B and A.

In FIG. 3, while blade A which has created perforation A, and is positioned therein to feed the web 1 to the left, blade B moves upwardly and therefore is retracted from the web 1 and, as indicated by the curved arrow above the blade B, which is double ended, the blade B is not only retracted but has started to reverse its direction of movement, that is, it is now moving from left to right.

Turning next to FIG. 4, the situation is shown wherein the blade A continues to feed the web 1 from right to left while the blade B is returning from left to right.

FIG. 4 shows the situation where the blade A continues to feed the web 1 from right to left while the blade B which is moved across the initial perforation created by blade A, that is, perforation A now turns to and reverses its direction, that is, it starts to move from right to left.

Next, in FIG. 6, the blade B, which is moving from right to left, now i.e. the web 1 to form a second perforation B intermediate of perforations A and A In this case, both blades B and A feed the web 1 from right to left as indicated by the arrows above the respective blades.

Next, in FIG. 7, the situation is illustrated wherein the blade B which has created perforation B, is alone in feeding the web 1 to the left while the blade A moves up vertically as illustrated by the double ended arrow immediately thereabove and has its direction of rotation changed, that is, it starts to move from left to right to return to its right hand position prior to again penetrating the web.

FIG. 8 illustrates the last position just prior to the situation illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein the projected or inserted blade B continues to feed the web to the left while the blade A is returning to the right as illustrated by the oppositely directed arrows immediately above the blades.

Thus, the operation of movement of the two blades A and B is repeated in sequence, and the web 1 is continuously perforated while continuously being fed in a given direction.

Referring to FIG. 9, the particular motion for the blades A and B constitute the loop for each blade with the positions for each of the FIGS. 1 through 8 being identified numerically, the dotted line representing the plane of the surface of the web with blade B projecting through the web, for instance, in position 7,8,1 and 2, in that order.

As apparent from the above description, the perforations made by respective blades are alternately formed within the web, that is, a perforation made by blade B follows a perforation made by blade A, and so on, since the respective blades perforate the web alternately by repeating the same movements in alternate fashion.

The number of blades is of course not limited to that of the illustrated embodiment. The respective blades A and B may be plural in number, that is grouped, but in order to make the perforations along the web at equal intervals, the number of blades A and the number of blades B should be the same. FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a web perforated by four blades of group A and four blades of group B. In the case where the number of blades A is different from the number of blades B, perforations may be made at equal intervals if the timing for the blades A and B are properly controlled. Of course, by controlling the timing of movement of both blades A and B or groups of such blades, the perforations may be made at nonuniform intervals, as desired. In order to carry out the above movement and operation of the blades, conventional mechanisms employing cams and levers in the proper manner may be easily utilized by such persons skilled in the art.

In accordance with the perforating method of the present invention, the web is not only continuously perforated but also continuously fed. Therefore, the method and apparatus of the present invention is more practical and more efiicient than the conventional methods and apparatus achieving web perforation. Moreover, the perforations may be made with higher precision, the web feeding means normally employed in the prior art methods and apparatus may be completely eliminated, since the perforating blades also function to feed the web while at the same time they perforate the same.

We claim:

1. A method of perforating comprising in repetitive, alternating sequence, the steps of:

moving a first web perforating blade at right angles to the perforating axis of the blade with the blade projecting through said web to effect longitudinal movement of said web,

causing a second perforating blade longitudinally spaced therefrom and moving parallel to said moving web at the same speed as that web, to perforate the same,

continue moving said second blade while projecting through said web in the same direction and at the same speed as said web while retracting said first blade and moving it when retracted in the opposite direction,

and reversing the direction of movement of said first blade and bringing it up to the same speed and in the same direction as said web prior to reperforating said web at a different longitudinal position.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blades are moved along separate paths comprising continuous loops longitudinally spaced from each other.

3. An apparatus for continuously perforating a web, comprising at least two perforating blades positioned on one side of said web at longitudinally spaced positions, mounted for reciprocation longitudinally and mounted for axial shifting to a retracted position away from said web, and a projected position perforating said web, means for independently shifting said blades perpendicular to the direction of feed to cause said blades to selectively pierce said web while moving at the same speed and in the same direction as the web, means for synchronously moving said blades in repetitive, alternating sequence such that one of said two perforating blades projects through said web and is moving said web in one direction while said other blade is retracted from said web and moving in the opposite direction thereto, whereby; with the blades in projected position each blade tends to move said web in a forward feed direction subsequent to perforating the same. 

1. A method of perforating comprising in repetitive, alternating sequence, the steps of: moving a first web perforating blade at right angles to the perforating axis of the blade with the blade projecting through said web to effect longitudinal movement of said web, causing a second perforating blade longitudinally spaced therefrom and moving parallel to said moving web at the same speed as that web, to perforate the same, continue moving said second blade while projecting through said web in the same direction and at the same speed as said web while retracting said first blade and moving it when retracted in the opposite direction, and reversing the direction of movement of said first blade and bringing it up to the same speed and in the same direction as said web prior to reperforating said web at a different longitudinal position.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said blades are moved along separate paths comprising continuous loops longitudinally spaced from each other.
 3. An apparatus for continuously perforating a web, comprising at least two perforating blades positioned on one side of said web at longitudinally spaced positions, mounted for reciprocation longitudinally and mounted for axial shifting to a retracted position away from said web, and a projected position perforating said web, means for independently shifting said blades perpendicular to the direction of feed to cause said blades to selectively pierce said web while moving at the same speed and in the same direction as the web, means for synchronously moving said blades in repetitive, alternating sequence such that one of said two perforating blades projects through said web and is moving said web in one direction while said other blade is retracted from said web and moving in the opposite direction thereto, whereby; with the blades in projected position each blade tends to move said web in a forward feed direction subsequent to perforating the same. 